Asda has beaten big-name brands such as PG Tips, Tetley and Twinings in a taste test to find Britain’s best cup of tea.
Asda’s Everyday Tea Bags achieved the top score of 72% in a blind tasting by 79 “experienced and committed” tea drinkers assembled by consumer group Which?.
The tasters commended the product, costing £1.20 for 80 bags, for its aroma and appearance, with 68% judging the colour as perfect and 49% finding the flavour to be “just right”.
PG Tips Original, costing £3 for 80 bags, followed on 71%, with 68% judging the colour to be “just how a cup of tea should look” while a similar proportion were satisfied with the strength of bitterness.
Tetley Original at £2.50 for 80 bags also scored 71%, with tasters judging the tea to look good while offering a “pleasant mouthfeel” and an enticing aroma, with 54% agreeing that it had strength of flavour. However, 27% said it was too bitter for their taste.
Sainsbury’s Red Label at £1.25 for 80 bags was the third product to achieve an overall score of 71%, scoring well on colour, aroma and mouthfeel.
Four brands received a score of 70% – Aldi’s Diplomat Red Label (£1.85 for 160 bags), Co-op’s 99 Blend Fairtrade Tea (£1.45 for 80 bags), Waitrose Essential Original Blend Tea Bags (£1.25 per 80 bags) and Taylors of Harrogate Yorkshire Tea (£3.30 for 80 bags).
Tied at the bottom of the table on 67% were Twinings Everyday and Tesco Original Tea.
At £4.80 per 80 bags, Twinings cost four times the price of Asda’s winning offering, and while more than 60% of tasters liked the colour and bitterness level of Twinings, fewer than half were satisfied with the strength of flavour.
While two thirds of the panel enjoyed the bitterness of Tesco Original, 35% said it was too dark and 34% considered it not to be strong enough.
Natalie Hitchins, Which? head of home products and services, said: “A cup of tea is a daily essential for millions and many of us will passionately defend our favourite brand.
“Our results show that the bigger and more expensive brands aren’t necessarily the best for taste, with a supermarket own-brand costing less than 2p per cup emerging ahead of rivals costing up to four times as much.
“The scores demonstrate that brands and supermarkets know you can’t get a substandard cuppa past a nation of discerning tea drinkers, but Which? has proved that you don’t need to spend a lot for a good brew.”
